Fiery Fernandez-Castano leads Daly by one shot

Thomas Bjorn of Denmark, left, and Lee Westwood of England, right, talk with Andy McFee, European Tour chief referee, after play was suspended yesterday at the Qatar Masters tournament in Doha, Qatar.

Photo: AFP

Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano birdied his last three holes in carding a six-under 66 at the Qatar Masters, overcoming wind and blowing sand to lead John Daly by a shot after the first round on Thursday.

Daly (67) was followed by K.J. Choi (68) and Jason Day (68).

Six players, including 1999 Open champion Paul Lawrie and Nicolas Colsaerts, were three shots off the pace. Martin Kaymer (71) and Sergio Garcia (72) were in contention, but about two-thirds of the field shot over par, including defending champion Thomas Bjorn (79).

“It just happened,” Fernandez-Castano said with a smile. “It was such a difficult day that you didn’t have any expectation going out there. Every shot was difficult. Every shot, you had to be 100 percent focused. That is probably what kept me in the game.”

The Spaniard, winner of five European Tour titles, holed several putts of more than 20 feet on his way to nine birdies to go along with three bogeys. He played his best golf on the back nine, bouncing back from a bogey on 13 to make four birdies on the final five holes.

“I think the key was holing the putt on 16th,” Fernandez-Castano said.

“I hit the green with my three-wood. The first putt was very poor, left it 3m short of the hole and managed to hole that one. You never know, maybe I missed that one and your momentum disappears. But I holed that one and hit a lovely shot on the next, holed the putt and then had a lovely drive on the last ... I had a tricky bunker shot and holed the last putt,” he said.

Daly benefited from milder conditions in the morning when gusts of up 35kph died down for several holes. The two-time major winner shot bogey-free golf, including five birdies.

Opening his season in Doha, he wants to get back on track after struggling at the end of last year, the nadir being when he quit the Australian Open in November after hitting seven balls into water.

Daly, who won The Open in 1995 in wind and rain, said he often thrives in tough conditions like those endured on Thursday, adding that he was helped by consistent driving and the way he “managed the course.”

“I had a lot of chances to at least hit the greens and I can’t say its from practicing a lot because I took a lot of time off, which I pretty much needed,” Daly said.

“I love the way I putted. I’ve always been kind of decent in the wind. I’m a streaky putter so you can sometimes hit some bad putts and get away with it,” he added.

Some players said they have faced windier conditions, especially in England and Scotland. However, what made the Doha course so challenging, they said, was that the strong winds were kicking up sand from the surrounding desert.

Balls were difficult to track off the tee because of lower visibility and sand was getting into their hair, eyes and everything else, they said.